TORONTO — Nico Christodoulou this weekend took a break from his regular season of contesting the GB3 Championship in the U.K., returned home to his native Toronto for a one-off return to USF2000 Presented by Cooper Tires and claimed an impressive victory on Sunday for VRD Racing in the Cooper Tires Grand Prix of Toronto.
Christodoulou, 18, took the lead with five laps remaining on a damp track when polesitter and championship leader Simon Sikes made a slight error under braking for turn three. Sikes held on for second, while Lochie Hughes profited from some last-lap shenanigans to complete the podium for Jay Howard Driver Development.
“It was a really good race on home soil. I was super excited about today,” Christodoulou said. “As I was coming here, I knew the track would be pretty wet. Racing in England, pretty much all you get is wet weather racing and I was excited to take advantage of that. In the race, I was maintaining second for most of it. Simon ended up making a mistake and I took the lead. We had a Safety Car restart and I kept the lead and just pulled away.
“I really loved racing this weekend. The team put a great car together for me and all the sponsors and my family were here, so it was a super good weekend.”
Overnight rain meant the 1.786-mile temporary circuit in Exhibition Place, just a few miles from downtown Toronto, was treacherously slippery as the 19 cars lined up for their race at a little after 8 a.m. ET. That was of no major concern for Sikes, who started as he finished yesterday’s race – at the front – after securing his seventh Cooper Tires Pole Award of the season during a dedicated qualifying session on Saturday morning.
A couple of single-car spins led the first three laps to be completed behind the pace car, after which Sikes took off confidently in the lead.
Sikes was helped when outside front row starter and Saturday polesitter Evagoras Papasavvas made a mistake at turn one, although it wasn’t long before Christodoulou began to loom large in his mirrors.
Christodoulou, who had lined up fifth on the grid, profited firstly when VRD teammate Nikita Johnson experienced a mechanical problem even before the start. He then took advantage of Papasavvas’ error before slipping past Sikes’ teammate, New Zealander Jacob Douglas on the first lap of green-flag racing.
The pace increased steadily as the 20-lap race unfolded and the track slowly began to dry, although Sikes seemed to have matters under control, despite the close attentions of both Christodoulou and fellow Toronto area native Mac Clark. But on lap 16, the leader left his braking a touch too late at turn three and ran slightly wide. Christodoulou needed no second bidding. He ducked instinctively to the inside and slipped through into the lead.
One brief caution period due to a single-car incident at the back of the field was cleared in time for a one-lap dash to the checkered flag.
Christodoulou, who had contested a handful of USF2000 races in 2020 before heading to Europe, was up to the challenge, clearing off to take the victory by just over 1.5 seconds.
Clark had made a bid to overtake Sikes around the outside at turn one, but after running side by side almost the full length of Lake Shore Boulevard, he instead found himself under attack from Sikes’ teammate Max Garcia.
Unfortunately, contact at turn three sent Clark spinning. In the chaos that ensued, Hughes vaulted from fifth to third, ending his poor sequence of results, while Jorge Garciarce picked up the Tilton Hard Charger Award after rising from 11th on the grid to fourth, equaling his best result of the season.
Second position for Sikes, his 11th podium finish of the season, means that he now holds a commanding 69-point lead over Hughes in his quest for a Discount Tire Driver Development Scholarship valued at $433,200 to ensure graduation onto the next step of the ladder, USF Pro 2000 Presented by Cooper Tires, in 2024.